Ovechkin scores 2 goals, Capitals beat Canadiens

Apr 22, 2010 - 3:00 AM

MONTREAL(AP) -- Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and
maybe even Montreal's inability to score more goals in a
dominant second period, drove Canadiens goalie Carey Price to a
couple of piques of frustration.

Ovechkin scored his second goal of the game with 8:51 left,
sending Washington to a 6-3 victory Wednesday night and a 3-1
lead in the Eastern Conference series.

Ovechkin opened the scoring at 8:10 of the first period with the
Capitals' first power-play goal of the series. Mike Knuble tied
it at 2 with Washington's second short-handed goal in two games
with 6.3 seconds left in the second.

Boyd Gordon, who returned to the lineup to score a key
short-handed goal in Game 3 after being a healthy scratch, set
up Knuble on a 2-on-1 to draw the Capitals even despite being
outshot 33-18 to that point.

"I think it was a pretty big goal," Ovechkin said. "Again, we
played great short-handed and Gordo, what can I say about him?
He's a hard-working guy and when he makes a play like this it
means a lot for our team."

Ovechkin added his second of the game and fourth in three games
when he cut past defenseman Hal Gill and put Washington up 3-2
with a shot past Price from the slot.

"When you give him time and he's that close to the net he knows
what to do," Price said. "That's why he scores 50 goals every
year."

Jason Chimera made it 4-2 52 seconds later.

The Capitals got empty-net goals from Knuble with 2:27 left and
Nicklas Backstrom with 10.1 seconds remaining.

"One power-play goal and you're up 3-1 in the series - it
doesn't usually work out like that," Knuble said.

Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves to win his third in a row for
Washington, which regained home-ice advantage in the
quarterfinal series with a 5-1 victory in Game 3 on Monday
night.

"He was great. He was fabulous tonight," Knuble said. "He was
the difference."

Price stopped 32 shots in his first start of the series for
Montreal. Price, who replaced Jaroslav Halak in the second
period Monday, was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct
following Chimera's goal. The Canadiens goalie fired a puck
toward the Capitals players celebrating along the boards on the
right side, striking defenseman Jeff Schultz in the backside.

"It was frustration," Price said. "It's not a good move, but let
'em know that you're there. I didn't mean to actually hit him
but it's over."

Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Dominic Moore scored for
Montreal, which outshot Washington 21-9 in the second after
holding a 12-9 edge in the first.

Game 5 is Friday night in Washington.

"We can go there and upset them," Gill said. "We did it before
and we should have done it again. We've got to go and bring our
game, and bring it for 60 (minutes)."

The Capitals fell to 0 for 15 with the man advantage in the
series when they failed to score during their first opportunity
after Tomas Plekanec was sent off for interference 48 seconds
in.

Ovechkin brought the power-play skid to an end when he drove a
shot past Price to extend his goal streak to three games and put
Washington up 1-0.

Cammalleri drew Montreal even 1:12 later with his second goal.
Cammalleri put a backhand of a rebound of Glen Metropolit's shot
in at 9:12 after the Montreal center came out from behind the
net and tried to tuck his own backhand past Varlamov.

Gionta drew a roar from the capacity crowd of 21,273 when he
scored a power-play goal from the left edge of the crease 15:42
into the second to put Montreal up 2-1.

Knuble silenced the crowd when he put Boyd Gordon's pass beyond
Price with 6.3 seconds left in the second.

"It was a big boost for us to go in tied 2-2 instead of down one
and just kind of reset ourselves," Knuble said. "We were getting
too many penalties there in the second and getting really on our
heels with their power play. It just kind of game us time and a
shot in the arm to refocus for a strong third."

NOTES: The 21 shots allowed by the Capitals in the second period
matched a team playoff record for shots by an opponent in a
period set by Philadelphia on April 21, 2008. ... Canadiens D
Jaroslav Spacek missed the game because of an unspecified
injury. Ryan O'Byrne took his spot in the lineup.